1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hinges and door systems, and, more particularly, to adjustable hinges and door systems that use the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
During the lifetime of a dwelling or office, the walls and other parts of the structure tend to get out of alignment. This frequently results in the door latch of a door no longer lining up with the strike located on the door frame, so that the door no longer latches properly when it's closed. In order to realign the door latch with the door strike, it is necessary to make an adjustment at the door hinges. The problem is, a technician must remove the screws from a hinge on a door to make any adjustment. And usually this means that the technician must adjust more than just one hinge. In fact, multiple hinges on the door need to be brought into line. The adjustment is presently made by inserting shims between the hinge(s) and the door frame. This creates or changes a gap between the hinge and the door frame. Depending upon the location of a particular shim, the act of creating or changing the gap causes the door to be adjusted vertically, horizontally, and/or angularly, relative to the frame, and thus changes the orientation of the door latch to the door strike so that the door latches correctly. As may be imagined, by the time this procedure has been repeated for all of the hinges, it has become a tedious and time-consuming process, and consequently has entailed a considerable expense.
Attempts have been made to simplify this process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,863,358 to Ochs discloses the use of lifting elements threadedly attached to a hinge plate via threaded holes formed in the hinge plate. As a particular lifting element is rotated in the hinge plate, such as, for example, by a screwdriver, the lifting element extends beyond the rear surface of the hinge plate to cause a separation between the hinge plate and the door jamb or frame. The difficulty is, that in order to use this system, the hinge plate must also be equipped with separate holes for receiving conventional screws of the type that are typically used for connecting the hinge plate to the door and frame. This causes the hinge plate to be peppered with holes and fasteners, and is unsightly when installed on a door and door frame. Furthermore, this system requires additional forming operations when manufacturing the hinge.
Accordingly, what is needed is a hinge that can be adjusted using a single set of apertures formed in the hinge plate, each aperture accommodating both an adjuster and the conventional fastener for connecting the hinge to the door or the door frame. The present invention provides such a solution.